Models to "awaken" potential in Tan Ky

(Baonghean) - Being a lowland mountainous district, the people have a tradition of raising livestock, so the potential for developing livestock and crop farming in Tan Ky is quite large. To exploit that potential, in recent years, Tan Ky has had many solutions to promote the development of livestock and crop farming.

FROM COMPACT, PRACTICAL MODELS...

One of the effective agricultural extension models being implemented in Tan Ky is the model of supporting the transfer of sugarcane varieties to 8 households in Tien Phong 1 hamlet, Ky Son commune, represented by Mr. Ngo Minh Nhan. With a total budget of 180 million VND from the national agricultural extension program, the district Agricultural Extension Station deployed on 7.5 hectares, of which 6 hectares were planted with KK2 sugarcane variety (originating from Thailand) and 2.5 hectares with local My55-14 variety.

Engineer Thai Thi My Luong - Deputy Head of Tan Ky Agricultural Extension Station said: Participating in the model, people are supported with 100% of the seed money and 50% of the fertilizer money. After more than 5 months of planting, comparing with the area (normal variety) planted by people next door, it shows that the model sugarcane is much more effective. The KK2 sugarcane variety is expected to yield about 70 tons/ha, but the actual harvest last year in Giai Xuan commune reached 90 tons/ha, so this year it continues to be planted in Ky Son.

Chicken farming model on biological bedding of Mr. Pham Viet Ngoc in Hamlet 1, Lat Town (Tan Ky).

The second model that Tan Ky Agricultural Extension Station is implementing is raising chickens using biological bedding in Hamlet 1, Lat Town. With an investment of only 54 million VND, of which the State supports 100% of the cost of the breed and 50% of the cost of the feed, the model is very suitable for raising chickens in a small area. Mr. Pham Viet Ngoc - the owner of the model said: Before the biological bedding model, the farm was close to home so it was difficult to raise a large number of chickens because of environmental pollution and susceptibility to disease. After the training, the family that received the model was supported with 300 hybrid fighting chickens to raise. Since using biological bedding, they have been completely assured, the entire 4-month raising cycle does not require cleaning the barn, occasionally turning the bedding layer to treat with probiotics; the barn is always dry and has no foul odor. In particular, chickens raised on biological litter grow quite well, reaching a weight of nearly 0.8 kg/chicken after only about 1 month, almost equal to chickens raised outside for 3-4 months. According to Mr. Ngoc, if this model is successful, it can be completely replicated in hamlets and communes in the region.

The above two models are very effective and suitable for Tan Ky district, although the budget is not much, only 200 - 300 million VND per year for training and transferring the model to farmers. From 2010 to now, the district has built 22 models of trees and animals and provided professional support to establish 2 farms. In addition to the 2 models mentioned above, in the area there are also models of cassava, squash, and hot pepper that have been effectively implemented with high income and are being gradually replicated....

...TO MOBILIZING AND DIVERSIFYING RESOURCES

To attract resources and accelerate the application of science and technology in agricultural production, in the context of limited direct support budget, Tan Ky district effectively utilizes the province's mechanisms and policies and investment from enterprises to promote livestock development. In 2010, due to the impact of epidemics, although the district has strengths in livestock, the total livestock herd tends to decrease. Therefore, in 2011, the District People's Committee issued the Project "Improving the quality of livestock herds". According to the above project, in addition to applying the province's support mechanisms and policies, the district issued its own mechanism, according to which each year Tan Ky allocates 140 million VND from the budget to support concentrated feed for livestock herds.

With the above resources and the provincial mechanism, Tan Ky invests over 1 billion VND each year to improve the quality of livestock. After 4 years of implementation, along with maintaining the total herd of nearly 45 thousand heads, the quality of the herd has been significantly improved. Up to now, the proportion of Sind crossbred cattle accounts for 67.5% of the total herd (11,847/17,545 heads), exceeding the plan set for 2015 by 10,000 heads. Thanks to the improved breed quality, livestock are more resistant to disease, there are no major epidemics and meat output increases by 8-9% each year; the calves and calves after being rebred develop well and adapt to local environmental conditions. Ms. Huong - a cow farmer in Hamlet 5, Ky Tan Commune said: With the same raising period of 6-8 months, raising yellow cows will bring in an income of nearly 10 million VND/cow, while crossbred cows will bring in about 13-15 million VND/cow, much more effective.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Thuc, Head of the Agriculture Department of Tan Ky district, said: Improving and enhancing the quality of livestock is a very positive direction for the livestock industry. Thanks to this policy, all communes in the district now have large-scale livestock farming models and families, and farms have been established, bringing in a good income for the people.

In addition to the resources from the provincial and district policies, through the mechanisms and policies of the State, Tan Ky district has attracted a cattle breeding project worth over 150 billion VND invested by Kieu Phuong Company Limited in a farm in Lat Town, raising 340 Australian cows for meat sale. Although this model is difficult to replicate, the presence of the above farm has opened a new direction for livestock development in the district. Regarding supporting farmers in applying science and technology in production, since April 2015, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company has supported farmers in Tan An, Tan Long, Nghia Dung and Giai Xuan communes to install drip irrigation models for 19.3 hectares of sugarcane, helping to improve farming efficiency, which has been recognized and highly appreciated by farmers and local authorities in the communes.

AND THE WORRIES AND CONCERNS

The above reality shows that the demand for resources for agricultural extension is increasing, but the investment level, especially direct investment in models, is still too small and small, so it cannot be deployed on a large scale. In addition, some models after implementation are not effective and have not been checked and compared, which has a significant impact on people's psychology and is difficult to replicate, due to the limited funding source. According to Ms. Dang Thi Van, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Tan Ky district: If calculated carefully, on average, each model in the area only supports 20 - 30 million VND, so it is necessary to choose a small scale by household for support.

In addition, when it comes to agricultural extension work, it is about bringing science and technology, new and advanced varieties into production, but the level of acceptance of farmers is still uneven. To build a livestock model using biological bedding, Mr. Pham Viet Ngoc in Lat Town had previous experience in livestock farming, wanted to open a farm, so he was willing to accept the model and initially achieved the results as present.

In addition to the above limitations, the agricultural extension model in particular and agricultural production in general are currently subject to considerable impacts and risks. The success or failure of the model depends on many factors, both subjective and objective. For this reason, many successful models are difficult to maintain after the project ends. A typical example is the cassava planting model in the forced land of Tan Ky district a few years ago, which proved to be effective when the economic value was 2-3 times higher than that of normal cassava planting. The district has expanded it to 4 communes, but this year due to the intense heat, many cassava died, and productivity decreased, so it is very difficult to expand it now.

To improve the effectiveness of agricultural extension models, along with finding effective and suitable models for each locality to have investment and support solutions, from the practice in Tan Ky, it is shown that all levels must increase the investment level for model transfer; investment resources to support production should be more specifically assigned to the agricultural extension sector to deploy and monitor investment resources to develop production models that are used for the right purposes. From there, make agricultural extension models become models for farmers to learn and follow, contributing to awakening the great potential that districts like Tan Ky have.

Nguyen Hai